Equal Justice Initiative, Racial Terror Massacres During Reconstruction

During the Reconstruction Era in U.S. History, the Black population faced horrific violence and brutality from whites. Although there were documented reports of murders and assaults from observers at the time, there is no reliable and established number of victims. This can be attributed to a number of factors: lack of coverage in Southern newspapers to avoid painting the South in a bad light, Black victims' avoidance of reporting attacks or murders for fear of retaliation, and local legal systems turning a blind eye or being complicit in the brutality. Existing records of these acts of violence are mostly based on newspaper articles, summary records from the Freedmen’s Bureau, and testimonies from Congressional hearings. Among documented acts acts of violence are 34 massacres, or mass lynchings, where three or more Black people were killed. This map, created by the Equal Justice Initiative, shows the locations and years of the massacres, as well as the number of people killed. In some of the massacres, the death toll reached over 100. Each of massacres occurred in the South and were mostly committed by white supremacist mobs attempting to suppress the Black vote or instill fear in the Black community.